1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluorine-containing glycoside and its use. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fluorine-containing glycoside, particularly .omega.-fluoroalkyl-.beta.-cellobioside or glucoside and its use as well as an acyl derivative of the glycoside.
2. Description of the Related Art
In various places in the world, many wooden buildings have been built from ancient times to the present time. However, the wooden buildings suffer from significant damages caused by termites and wood rotting fungi.
Chlordan (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,8-octachloro-4,7-methano-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydroindane) was widely used as a termiticide, but its use has been forbidden due to its residual toxicity and toxicity against other organisms.
Accordingly, it has been highly desirable to provide a new termiticide.
The termites can decompose, hardly decomposable cellulose with cellulase, to cellobiose and further decompose the cellibiose with cellobiase to glucose. Then, the glucose is introduced into the TCA cycle through glycolysis to obtain ATP. The enzymes, used in the above series of conversions are known as .beta.-glucosidases, are specifically present in the termites, protozoas which are in commensal with the termites or the wood rotting fungi.
Meanwhile, an even number carbon alcohol having a fluorine at the .omega.-positioned, is oxidized to a corresponding fatty acid. Then, the fatty acid is decomposed with .beta.-oxidation to a fluoroacetate and then converted to a fluorocitrate, which inhibits aconitase in the TCA cycle. Because of these mechanism, the .omega.-fluorinated even number carbon alcohol, is known to have 24 to 72 hour delayed toxicity (see Insect Biochemistry, 15 (2), 205-209, March, 1985.
The termites are known to exchange nutritions with other individuals, which is one of the characteristics of social insects. That is, foods once eaten by one individual can be distributed to other individuals in the forms of vomits and egesta from anus or in the form of secretions such as saliva. Then, the foods eaten by workers may be fed to the queen or king termites through several steps of nutrition exchange.
This indicates that, if the food had the delayed toxicity and eaten by individual termites, the toxic food could be propagated from one individual to other and finally spread throughout a whole colony of the termites.
Accordingly, if the .omega.-fluorinated alcohol were bonded to the cellulose, oligosaccharide, cellobiose or glucose throught the .beta.-glycoside bond, it would be possible to provide a compound which has specific toxicity against the termites or the wood rotting fungi which generate energy through decomposition of cellulose with the .beta.-glycosidase, while it has no toxicity against organisms which generate energy with .alpha.-glycosidase.